Partitions and New Beginnings: The Bengali Diaspora in the Malay Peninsula

Abstract

Colonial Bengal comprised present-day Bangladesh, the Indian states of West Bengal, Bihar, Orissa, and Tripura. It was partitioned twice: 1905 and 1947. After the Partition of 1905, the Muslim intellectuals and leaders realised that the interests of Indian Muslims were not safe in the hands of the Indian National Congress (INC). Therefore, they formed the All India Muslim League (AIML) in 1906. From then till 1947, these two political parties generally represented their own religious communities. Therefore, the Partition of 1947 was believed to be unavoidable, and its root was laid down in the Partition of Bengal in 1905. Historians, sociologists, and anthropologists articulated trauma, migration, and communal violence related to the Partition of 1947 through different methodological and theoretical perspectives. However, both Partitions affected Bengali migrants in the Malay Peninsula, an understudied area. This study spotlights two interconnected aspects. First, it discusses different migration patterns of the Bengalis and their diasporic history. Second, it illustrates the social interactions between Bengali Hindu and Muslim expats after both Partitions. By using a range of archival and non-archival sources, and qualitative approach, the study hopes to address the lacuna in the existing historiography of the Bengali diaspora in the Malay world, which will contribute to the recent flourishing of Partition studies.